Aug 01,2013

The Realities of Slums

+ Kari Kohn

Kennedy Odede makes a strong case that slums perpetuate innequality, by depriving residents of the opportunity to take part in the social fabric of the city as a whole. Having spent the majority of his life, including his childhood, in the informal settlement of Kibera outside of Nairobi, Kenya, he has an informed perspective on the movitivations of people moving to urban environments and the realities of slums.

I, too, was born in the village, and lived there until it was struck by a brutal famine when I was two years old. With no food, money, or opportunities, my mother did what thousands of African villagers do every day: she moved us to the city in search of a better life. But, given the lack of jobs and housing in Nairobi, we ended up in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest slums.

...Every day, more people arrive in Nairobi, lured by the promise of employment, resources, and a better life, only to realize that they are not equipped to survive there and that their children will grow up in a slum. At least half of those living in urban slums are under the age of 20.

Because the Kenyan government does not recognize Kibera, the official population is unknown, and governement services such as infrastructure and educational systems are not provided to residents. However, these residents work to provide goods and services to rest of Nairobi.

It is these people, Nairobi’s poorest residents, who build the buildings, staff the restaurants, drive the taxis, and power the city. (From the age of 12 until I was 22, I was part of this group, working at construction sites and in factories.) Indeed, without the poor, Nairobi could not function for a single day.

Nevertheless, they remain all but invisible, with no political voice.

Odede cautions that these conditions, if not addressed, have the potential to increase the divide between the rich and the poor and perhaps ultimately create significant unrest.

Urban slums worldwide will soon reach a tipping point, with young people rejecting the lives that they have been offered. Their power lies in their numbers – more than half of the world’s youth shares their fate – and in their anger. They will rise up, refusing to accept their status as second-class citizens of ever-expanding urban settlements, and they will destabilize countries like Kenya, undermining efforts to build more stable, prosperous societies.

Cities are not just Africa’s future; they are its present. Unless collective action is taken now to transform cities like Nairobi into the drivers of economic development and sources of opportunity that they are supposed to be, they will become a tinderbox of perpetual inequality. For the sake of the millions of people like my mother – and, more important, for the sake of their children and grandchildren – we must fulfill the promise that attracts the poor to cities in the first place.

To avoid repeating history and the childhood that Odede experienced, existing cities can plan for their inevitable expansion through very simple steps so that housing can remain affordable and everyone can take part in all that cities have to offer. In addition, nations can consider starting new cities that allow for experimenting with new rules so that its citizens can make progress in their lives and future generations.

Tile image by: khym54